The city of Richmond is vying for a return to world-class cycling.
Mayor Dwight C. Jones and USA Cycling will announce Tuesday a bid to host "a nine-day event that will attract national and international audiences," according to a city news release.
The event is the International Cycling Union's world road cycling championships in 2015, cycling journal VeloNews reported, citing unnamed sources.
The 10:30 a.m. announcement at the Greater Richmond Convention Center will be broadcast at .
USA Cycling said Richmond would be seeking "an international cycling event that has not been held in the United States in almost 25 years." The U.S. last hosted a road world championship in 1986 in Colorado Springs, Colo., VeloNews said.
The 2010 world road championship was held in Melbourne, Australia, with the event scheduled to move to Copenhagen, Denmark; Limburg Province, Netherlands; and Florence, Italy, during the next three years.
In the 1990s, Richmond was part of the Tour DuPont, a 1,225-mile cycling race that was held in stages. It also was home to the CapTech Classic in the 2000s. Jones has made bikes a priority by appointing a commission to make the city more accommodating to cyclists and pedestrians.
Champe Burnley, president of the Virginia Bicycling Federation, said the local cycling community is abuzz over speculation that the city could contend for the world road championships.
"It's one of the absolute top pro bike races in the world," he said. "It's a big deal."
wjones@timesdispatch.com
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